Victoria has recorded 451 new coronavirus cases

Ross J Burland FXStreet

The Australian state Victoria has recorded 451 new cases, a source has said, as the Federal Treasurer reveals nearly half the state’s private-sector workers will be on JobKeeper this lockdown.

These figures will be confirmed later in the session...

More to come...

Market implications

Meanwhile, AUD/USD bounced off 0.7174 in London.

The pair is correlated to the performance of equities regardless to the coronavirus headwinds and how the Australian Treasurer Frydenberg said the JobKeeper program would be expanded to help deal with the Victorian lockdown, at a cost to the budget of A$15.6bn.

It could be argued that stimulus is a positive factor for the currency in contrast to the deadlock in the US and waning outlook for US economic growth.

Today's forecasts in the August Statement on Monetary Policy from the Reserve bank of Australia will be critical.

In Tuesday’s statement, Governor Lowe revealed that the forecast of -6%yr contraction by end 2020 has not changed, though they trimmed 2021 growth slightly, to +5%, analysts at Westpac noted.

Their assessment of the risks ahead will also be of interest and any commentary on the A$ bounce.

Assistant Governor Economic Luci Ellis will then speak via an ABE webinar.

Author

Ross J Burland

FXStreet

Ross J Burland, born in England, UK, is a sportsman at heart. He played Rugby and Judo for his county, Kent and the South East of England Rugby team.

GBP/USD stabilizes near 1.3200 following latest rebound

GBP/USD holds steady at around 1.3200 in the European session on Friday after closing in positive territory on Thursday. Still, the cautious market mood makes it difficult for the pair to gather bullish momentum as investors remain focused on US-Iran conflict and the volaility surrounding global technology shares.

EUR/USD rebounds to 1.1400 as USD corrects lower

EUR/USD gains traction in the European session on Friday and rises to the 1.1400 area. The US Dollar (USD) struggles to find demand and helps the pair edge higher as investors keep a close eye on headlines coming out of the Middle East and the action in global technology stocks.

Gold holds above $4,000 but Fed hike bets cap the upside

Gold moves sideways in a tight channel above $4,000 after posting modest gains on Thursday. Nevertheless, the precious metal finds it difficult to gather bullish momentum as markets grow increasingly concerned about a hawkish Federal Reserve policy outlook.

Ripple price clings to $1 as long liquidations deepen bearish trend

Ripple (XRP) trades near the key psychological support level of $1 after losing more than 8% so far this week. CoinGlass liquidation data shows that over 97% XRP long positions were wiped out over the past 24 hours. In addition, derivatives metrics continue to favor the bears.

Asian stock markets plummet as Apple price hike raises inflation concerns, KOSPI dives over 8%

Asian equity markets on Friday are significantly down as price hikes announced by Apple Inc. due to memory chip shortages have prompted fears of high inflation globally and concerns on earning projections of various companies that rely on these sophisticated chips for their final products.

Regime change: Inside Kevin Warsh's first move to make the Fed unreadable on purpose

The rate did not move. That was the least interesting thing about Kevin Warsh's first meeting in charge of the Fed. The FOMC held its benchmark at 3.50%-3.75% for the fourth straight meeting, exactly as priced, and then the new chair used his first press conference to dismantle the machinery the market has leaned on for a decade.